Driving mechanism for oil-well rigs



Aril 6 1926. 1,579,753

. M'. P. BURKE DRIVING MECHANISM FOR OIL WELL RIGS v Filed DeGL IL1 1924 i @j wif/weigh Patented Apr.v 6, 1926.

UNIT-ED sTATEs lP A'rr-:NT ola-FICE.

:um 1 atrium, or TULSA, o'xmmomm.-

Darwins nacnnmsu non OIL-WELL nies.

Application aled'lleoemher 1, 1924; Serialjlo. 753,291.

To all whom it may concern.'

The driving mechanism of the lstandard l oil well ri suitably driven by an engine or other prime mover,-a erank'on the band wheel shaft suitusually includes l'a band wheel ably connected to a walking beam and a connection from thev walking beam leading into the well. Such a connection may takethe form pf a pump rod which reciprocates in the well to drive thepump atthe bottom thereof. In some cases, howeuenas `for instance, in` the' drilling operation when the cable is givena jerking movement or in the operations of pulling` tubes or rods from the well .whichjare simple hoisting' operations, the connection is not given the simple reciprocating movement. Durin the pumping operation the pump rods which may be two or three thousand feetin length and may weigh twoor three thousand npounds are hung directly on one 'end of the walking beam. This weight must be stopped, started v and accelerated for each stroke of-a pump and it is desirable, therefore, to counter-balance the sam'eso as tonreducethe amount 'of' power required to operate the pump. 'Dur ing the hoisting operations,`suchas pulling n tubes or rodsthere isno necessity4 for a accordance with :this invention counter-balance of any kind.

One. of the -objectsofv his inventiomtherefore, is .to rovide means for counter-balanc- .ing a stan ard oil wellirig in' such a way as x tovassist in pum ing end similar operations withoutinterfering with other operations.

Another obj ect is to provide counter-balancing meansv whichmay be .disco and moved out of the lway' lwhen not Anotherobj'ect is to provide anove of 'counterLweight adapted for interl engagement toretain the' same inpla'cef' lowing description taken in connection Awith the accompanying drawing in which:

v Figure 1 'isa side'view. of a standard band wheel equ'ppled with a counter-balance in ably attached to the band wheel in King.' c A e c0nnection-7 leading into thewe When Furtherobjects will appear from the Afol- "momentum wi wiew of Figure 1; Y

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3o Figure l;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional side v Fi ures 4 and '5-are plan'views of 'counter-- weig t sections embodying this invention:

AFigure '6 `1s a perspective sectional view of al set of interlocking Vcounter-weights emboidying this invention; and

" 1gure7 is a 'side view on a reduced scale 'of an oil well rig embodying`this invention.

. Referring to the accompanying drawing" 1 designates a band wheel such as may' be foundon the usual standard oil wellrig.` mounted on ai The band wheel is usuall band wheel shaft 2 to whic isxed a crank 3 adapted forconnection by a pitman 4 to ,the walkmgbeam 5 of the rig. The "walk-V mg beam may be pivotedpn a Samson post 6. and have suitab e connected at its opposite end a connection 7 leading into the well.

In accordance with this invention .a bearing v8 is provided which is constructed in two half parts adapted orvassembl sur- Y igure affroundinethe shaft 2 as shown in- 1. The aring is loose on the shaft so as Ato be able to turn thereon andl a 'suitable grease or oil-cup 9 provides-for lubrication 'thereon Connected tothe bearingS` by means of a pair of rods or bolts 10 is acounter-balance comprising a 'head 11 throughwhich the bolts 10 may pass andjh :a series of counter-weight sections 12 also mountedonA the rods 10 and connected withA a head 11 by means o'fbolts 13. The head: Y

11 is' provided with brackets 14 b means of which the counter-balance may the band wheel` 1 by bolts`15.

exea@ o n is ums provided um; the counter-b51- f ance may be detachably connectedl to the band wheel. The counter-balanceis prefer- `tion `shown in Figures 1 Yand 7,

the counter-balance {will `3 always thopoeithat is, on the same side'of the band wheel toward f which; the crank 3 extends. .Inl this position be in the` looA .proper relation to'halance the -Wei ht of the connected inv this way the*'counter-'balance rotates with-'the band wheel dur" movin 65 l fere with 1ts operation. The counter-balconnections. On the down stroke of the pumping connection the counter-balance will be moving upwardly so that the weight andl momentum of the pump connections will also be effective in lifting the counterbalance. Conversely the counter-balance prevents a too rapid descent of the pump connections. This construction, therefore,

' provides for a more uniform movement with a less expenditure of power for .pumping and consequently a less severe service on the prime mover.

During drilling or hoisting operations or the like, it is undesirable to have a counterbalance attached to the band wheel. During such operations, therefore, the bolts 15Y may be removed and the counter-balance detached from the .band wheel. The band wheel may now rotate freely without the counter-balance which simply hangs in a vertical -position with the shaft 2 turning in the bearing 8. The bolts 10 pass through flared holes 16 in the halves of the bearing 8 so as to permit the rods 10 to be swung sidewise after loosening the nuts 17 which clamp the bearing 8 in assembled relation.

This provides that when detached from the band wheel the counter-balance may be swung clear of the wheel as indicated by the dotted positions shown in Figures 2 and 3. In this positionl the counter-balance may be tied to the jack-post 18 so as to kee it out 0f the way of the band wheel. T e counter-weight sections 12 may be provided with side slots 19 adapted to-be slipped over the rods 10 in assembling these sections to form the counter-balance. Bolt holes 20 are `-also provided to .receive the bolts 13. In accordance withthis invention the-counter-weight sections are formed to interlock with one another-as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. In Figures 4 .and 5 the' ends of the sections are provided with interlocking tongues 21 adapted to maintaln the sections in proper alinement. In .the embodiment illustrated ini Figure 6, which :directly on the band wheel shaft and suitably adjusted so as to counter-balance the weight of the connection leading 'into the well. When desired the counter-weight may be detached fromthe band wheel by a simple operation quickly made and may be swung clear of the wheel So'as not to interance may be ad'usted to any desired weight by adding or su tracting sections 12. These sections when assembled interlock so as to maintain their alinement and avoidthe possibility of their coming loose during operation.

It is obvious that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of this invention; it is to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not to be limited to the'specific details shown and described.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. Drivin'g mechanism forv oil well rigs,

comprising, a drive shaft, a crank thereon,

a walking)l beam connected to be operated by said crank, connections from said walking beam and leading into the well, a counterbalance adapted to cooperate with said shaft, and connections adapted to lfix said counterweightso as to move with said shaft,jsaid connections being releasable so as to permit said shaft to move withoutv said counterweight. A

' 2. Driving mechanism for oil well rigs, comprising, a drive shaft, a crank thereon, a walking beam connected to be operated by said crank, connections from said walking beam and leading into the well, a'counterweight adapted to cooperate with said shaft, and connections adapted to fix said counterweight so as to move with said shaft in a predetermined relation with respect to said crank, said connections being releasable so as to permit said shaft to move without said counter-weight.

3. Driving mechanism for oil well ri comprising, a bandwheel, a crank, a waling beam Udriven thereby, connections from said walking beam and leading into the well, a counter-weight permanently mounted on the band wheel shaft adaptedto cooperate with said wheel, and means for connecting said counter-weight to move in xed'relation with the band wheel, said connections being releasable so as to permit said wheel to move without said counter-weight.

4. In a deep well having a string of tubing and a string of pumping rods operable therein, a power rig having driving` mechanism comprising, a drive shaft, a crank thereon, a walking beam connected to be operated by said crank, connections from said walking4 beam tofthe pump rod strin a counter-weight adapted tocooperate wit .said shaft in order to counter-balance the pump rod string, and connections adapted to x said counter-weight so as .to move with said shaft, said connections being releasable so as to permit said shaft to move without said counter-weight.

l 5. Driving mechanism for oil well rigs, comprising, a band wheel, a crank, a walking beam connectedto be driven by said crank, a connection from said walking beam and leading into the well, a counter-balance,

rotatable on the band wheel shaft, and means for kattaching said counter-balance to move in xed relation with said crank.

6. Driving mechanism for oil well rigs,

comprising, a band wheel, driving connec-` tions including a shaft from said wheel and leading into the Well, and a counter-balance movable on said shaft and detachably connected to move in fixed relationto said band Wheel,

7. Driving mechanism for oil well rigs, comprising, a band Wheel, a shaft therefor,

-' a Walking beam driven thereb a connection leadlng into the well, a bearing on said shaft, and a counter-balance flexibly mounted on said bearing and attachable to said band wheel.

9. In a driving mechanism for oil well rigs a drive shaft, connections from said shaft leading to the well, an arm on said shaft, and a counter-weight on said arm including a head and a series of sections detachably inter-locked with said arm and secured to said head.

10. In a driving mechanism for oil Well rigs, a drive shat, connections from said shaft leading to the Well, an arm on said shaft, and a counter-Weight on said arm.

including a head and a series of mutually interlocking sections having recesses therein MARK P. BURKE.

signature 

